


Diving in While the Current's Fast

by FiresFromOurHearts



Series: Uncharted Waters [11]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aromantic Asexual Tobirama Senju, Aromantic Tobirama Senju, Arranged Marriage, Asexual Tobirama Senju, Comfort, Families of Choice, Family, Gen, Like political marriage, Love, One of my favourite tags not gonna lie, Peace, Political Alliances, Pre-Konoha Village, Queerplatonic Relationships, Reincarnation, Toru deserves a hug, Warring States Period (Naruto), and there was only one bed, but make it soft and gentle and found family obviously, don't you know, he gets one!!!, it's always been about love, they all get hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: In one world, there is this: Senju Tobirama marries Mizushima Toru for a political match. In one world, this changes everything and the world is better for it.(A story that features found family, love, Izuna, Tobirama, Toru, and - of course - the path to peace.)
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Tobirama & Original Character(s), Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna & Original Character(s), Uchiha Hikaku & Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Izuna & Original Character(s), Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Series: Uncharted Waters [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875832
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	Diving in While the Current's Fast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NightHunterDeath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightHunterDeath/gifts), [SilverUtahraptor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverUtahraptor/gifts), [PearlBear](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PearlBear/gifts).



> Title from Here We Go by WILD which you should definitely check out.

Initially, the Mizushima Clan was not well known outside of Kuchiyose no Shima. In fact, various sources provide evidence that the Mizushima Clan was primarily known for their dealings with pirates (and their destruction of the Hamasaki Clan, though deeply embroiled in myths, appears to be somewhat true as far as researchers can determine), especially with the pirates that roamed near Mizu no Kuni. However, this has already been detailed in chapters one and two.

The Mizushima Clan’s dealings and power seemed to become more well-known sometime before 927 AS. There’s no firm evidence for when the Mizushima Clan seemed to grow in power and only speculation exists. However, studies conducted find that the Mizushima Clan likely gained renown internationally between 920 and 925.

The main reason for this is due to Senju Toru (née Mizushima) beginning to take missions outside of Kuchiyose no Shima and becoming a known ninja despite his young age. Although not partaking in any of the main wars at the time—such as that which existed between the Senju and Uchiha Clans—Toru became known as Watatsumi for his water ninjutsus. The growing power and expansion of the Mizushima Clan’s allies led to attacks on the Mizushima Clan ninjas outside of Kuchiyose no Shima. Many proved unable to fend off these attacks, but Toru was known for defending himself along with his team, leading to losses for the attackers.

In the end, it all came to a head when the Mizushima Clan claimed a monopoly of resources that the Senju Clan required. The subsequent battle left the Senju Clan with the upper hand having taken prisoners of war, but the Mizushima Clan remained in control of the resource in question and began exacting pressure on their allies to reduce support for the Senju Clan. Ultimately, the Mizushima Clan (whose care for all their members was well known and documented as a major weakness) opened up treaty discussions with the Senju Clan, beginning with a ceasefire. Everything came to a conclusion when the Mizushima Clan formed a treaty with the Senju Clan, with one of the major obligations being the marriage of Mizushima Toru to Senju Tobirama (second clan heir at the time) as a war-bride in 927.

_Excerpt from chapter four of ‘The Rise of the Mizushima Clan’, Volume III in Uzushiogakure’s Clans.  
Written by Mizushima Shin’ya and edited by Hagoromo Masami._

* * *

The things Toru remembers when he first arrives at the Senju Compound: the trees are thick and the leaves are green and it strangely feels almost like home, _(Uzushio is home and always has been; the sea and the beach and the cawing of seabirds are the things Toru knows as home, his people more so; but Konoha had been home too—his people, the leafy shade, the warmth of the bare dirt, the grass tickling his skin)_.

The things Toru does not remember when he first arrives at the Senju Compound: the way the walls loomed over him, the way he felt closed in, the invisible chains that fixed themselves around his wrists, _(why should he remember these things? Toru has always chosen to remember things that are more positive)_.

* * *

Mizushima Toru is strange. A foreign ninja, one from outside of Hi no Kuni, who is not even the Clan Heir. It makes no sense, politically, for him to marry Tobirama. And yet, this is the man Tobirama marries. However, the Mizushima Clan doesn’t operate solely on inheritance for the Clan Head and Heir mantles. It turns out that the position can be gained through strength and expertise. In fact, Toru is one of the few in the Mizushima Clan’s history who turned down such a position.

_(Tobirama doesn’t know why Toru did it. If someone asked him to step forward for his family, he would do it in a heartbeat. Toru did not but… he’s revered anyway.)_

And _that_ is why he can marry Tobirama. His position is similar to Tobirama, who stands as second Clan Heir to the Senju Clan although Toru refused to accept the position.

Regardless, beyond the political ramifications of marrying, Tobirama cares little for Toru or what it means for him. In the end, the only difference is that rather than a woman meeting the demands of his wife’s role, it is Toru. Moreover, if Tobirama does want to marry or be engaged romantically or sexually with someone else, he will likely have to marry again or take someone on as consort. Not an awful position within the clan, but not one that Tobirama is eager to see filled.

Not that Tobirama had ever been eager to be married either, unlike Hashirama.

_(In fact, he hasn’t really given much thought to marriage. It hadn’t even been a certain thing in his future, though he knew the Clan Elders would push it. He’s never felt the need to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with another person. He’s not lonely, can’t be with his family around, and he’s certainly never seen it as something he was missing.)_

Really, the only worry is how Tobirama will cope with cohabitating with someone who is not his brother or Hashirama’s wife. Toru, however, turns out to be rather quiet and willing to keep to his own private space and avoid venturing into Tobirama’s room.

Technically, they should share a room, but on the first night Toru had retreated into the guest room and Tobirama, grateful, had retreated to the main bedroom. The pattern had continued for many months. And that, too, is strange. Why would Toru do such a thing? Perhaps it is for his own comfort and they are ninjas, so it makes sense, but still. If someone were to find out and spread the news, Toru’s reputation—already leaning towards negative—would be ruined completely. Tobirama, too, would be gossiped about but the rumours surrounding him are already plentiful.

_(He knows what most people think of him, just as he knows what he isn’t. Those close to him, those who interact him, all know what he isn’t—and that’s enough for him.)_

It occurs to Tobirama, three months into his marriage and completing paperwork for his brother, that he doesn’t actually _know_ what Toru does with his time. Does the other train? He must. He is a ninja and his shape certainly hasn’t suffered since he came to the Senju Clan. Does he train with others? How does he spend his hours of free time? Is he completing the duties that Tobirama’s wife would have, had he taken a wife?

He’s filled with the curious urge to know more, _(he always is)_. Stretching his senses, he locates Toru in the main market. It’s not a place Tobirama willingly ventures to, but he places aside his paperwork and stands. He’s certain his brother would want him to leave his desk at some point today.

As he leaves the house, he notices a bowl of food waiting on the counter in the kitchen for him. That too is strange, not the food waiting for him—that has become common. The fact it has become common is strange. Toru is clearly not a cook, his earlier attempts had spoken of that, but he makes meals that Tobirama likes now, and makes them fairly well. Perhaps it is Toru trying to gain his favour or performing his duties, but still. Toru is strange and Tobirama knows little about his motivations.

It bothers him more than he thought it would.

The market is a bustle of activity, as it always is. The noise assaults Tobirama’s ears but he ignores it as usual and centres himself towards Toru. At the very least, he is thankful that it’s not peak time and there isn’t a large crowd in the market. It makes things easier, _(though people do usually move out of Tobirama’s way without a word, silently and without meeting his gaze, he has always held himself apart and it is made easier by this)_.

He spies Toru past a flower stall, in a corner with a group of grubby kids. They’re civilian kids, ones Tobirama knows by sight though not by name. Toru is sitting on the floor with them in a circle. There are flowers in the middle of them, and Toru appears to be making a flower crown.

Is this what Toru does with his time? Teaches children unimportant things with items he himself has bought?

_(Because of course Toru bought them. The civilian children wouldn’t and even stall owners need to make their money somehow.)_

Then, Toru spots him and rises, graceful as always. It’s clear that he is still the ninja he always has been. Tobirama has never fought him, not really. He has certainly heard about Toru’s skills and his strength, though never seen it in action. Traces, though, of who Toru is and how he fights? That Tobirama has seen.

“Tobirama-san,” Toru says, flower crown still in his hands. For a moment, he looks as if he might bow, but there’s never been anything between them like that. Tobirama, at the very least, has always believed them to be equal in private. In the public sphere, however, they’ve rarely been seen together except when they had to be together—or in the beginning, when they were being married.

Tobirama inclines his head. “Toru,” he replies, stepping up to his husband, who gives him an uncertain smile. Then, he glances at the gaggle of children that are flocking behind Toru. “May I steal my husband from you for the rest of the day?”

It’s clear that Toru is too good of a ninja to truly react, but there’s a flicker of eyes that Tobirama only just catches. It is the children, however, that steal his attention. There are only three of them. One is all knobbly knees, stained clothing, and hair that’s strayed from its plait in the worst of ways. The two others are older, by at least two years Tobirama reckons. The tallest is long limbed, gap-toothed, with chipped fingernails talking of hard work. The last smiles and has more gaps than teeth, dirt covered knees and grass-stained hands. All of them wear dirty clothing, stained in the way that children somehow always manage.

The two eldest shyly step away from Toru when Tobirama glances at them, but the last stamps their foot, eyes screwed up and lips downturned, trembling. It’s a scowl, though lacking in ferocity and rather pitiful, more like a kitten trying to growl than anything else. “You can’t!” The kid screams, voice loud and high-pitched and Tobirama winces. People are starting to look at them.

But children are always loud, both civilian and ninja ones, and whilst Tobirama may not have much interaction with the former, he’s certain they can’t be too different. He crouches down and the child blinks in surprise, distracted from their tantrum. “And may I ask why?”

“I- I-” The kid stutters, before crossing their arms. “You’re not wearing a flower crown!”

Taking them all in again, it becomes clear that all three are wearing a flower crown of some kind. All three are intricately made and somehow look unique even though the flowers are all the same. There’s not a stem, leaf, or petal out of place.

The edges are already wilting, dying beneath the sun and heat. He glances at Toru who also has his own flower crown. Though it might be more precise to say _crowns_ , as he has three of them piled on his head, somewhat lopsided. The three of them are rather pathetic in make, twisted and a little bit broken and definitely bent. First attempts, Tobirama assumes, of the children in front of him.

“Well,” Toru says lightly, breaking the silence. “That’s something that can be rather easily fixed. Tobirama-san, would you do the honours of wearing my flower crown?”

It’s clear that Toru’s acting in such a manner just for the children, who smile and grin and giggle at his words. Tobirama sees no reason not to play along, and so he simply bows his head.

_(Though he rarely deals with them, Tobirama rather likes children, likes teaching although he rarely has the time to do so. There’s something about watching someone grow in front of you, watching them get stronger and wiser, that fills him with warmth. Even if these children aren’t ninja children, they are still children all the same. Tobirama is glad they get their childhoods, even if they must work at some point.)_

Hands, gentle ones that have never been so close to him except for their wedding, brush along his hair, lowering the flower crown down. “There,” Toru says, words whisper-soft. “You may rise, Tobirama-san, with my honoured flower crown.”

The children giggle as Tobirama stands. He glances at them, their wide grins and easy happiness, and then to Toru whose smile is smaller but perhaps more meaningful. “Thank you,” Tobirama says. Then, glancing at the children once again, he offers his arm to Toru. Toru’s expression doesn’t change, but he seems easier, lighter, perhaps. Tobirama doesn’t know him well enough to read him—which sits ill. They’re married, after all.

Toru tucks his hand into the crook of Tobirama’s elbow. His arm is warm. Not strangely so, but they have never done this before and Tobirama is rather unsure as how to proceed. And so he lets his feet take them out of the market and away from the people and the eyes that watch them as they pass, _(the rumours will grow and spread, but they always do)_. Tobirama leads them to his normal training ground, which is empty of people.

Suddenly feeling odd, he steps way from Toru, dropping his arm. “Is this what you do with your time?” He asks. “Spend it with civilian children?”

With steady eyes, hands tucked behind his back, Toru watches him. A beat passes and then he says, “Not always. But the children here are often in want of happiness. Something that creates easy joy. We live in a time full of war, Tobirama-san. Joy and happiness are hard to find. If I can offer that, limited as I am, why should I not? I have not been offered alternative tasks to complete. No one will talk to me either, for I am not known nor am I trusted by my husband.”

“That is not all my fault,” Tobirama replies.

Toru nods his head. “It is not,” he agrees. “But you have not made it easier. Children, at least, are less wary of me though their parents watch with sharp eyes. How can I prove myself if not given the opportunity, Tobirama-san? I am only who I am and I can only do what I can. Waiting is the only thing I can really do. Let time pass. What else is there, Tobirama-san? I am your husband, but I feel as if I live alone more often than not. I do what I can but I cannot do everything alone.”

_(We are married, Tobirama wants to say. But he knows that does not matter. Their marriage is a political one, a meaningless one outside of clan ties. There is nothing real to their marriage. In fact, Tobirama barely cares for Toru—not like he should. Not like his brother did for Mito. They are simply two strangers, married and living together.)_

“I suppose not,” Tobirama says at last. He raises an eyebrow. “Do you wish to help?”

“I wish to do something,” Toru says, anger slipping through his words. He continues, the anger now carefully hidden once more. “I do not wish to sit here and wither away. Tobirama-san, I am a _ninja_. I do not know how to be anything else, nor do I know what you want me to be. Do you want a husband? A wife? A partner? What am I meant to do in the Senju Clan? What’s my role? My tasks?”

The words ring true, and the blame lies at Tobirama’s feet. The Mizushima Clan is not the Senju Clan. They operate differently, that much Tobirama knows, though he doesn’t know how different nor what’s different. Meanwhile, Toru has moved from a place where he knew how the world operated and was known to a place where he knows nothing and isn’t known either. Tobirama doesn’t even know if his husband has a family.

“We cannot trust you,” Tobirama says bluntly. “But that does not mean you should be bereft of tasks either. You are my husband and that gives you a position automatically. I have been lax in my own duties and have failed to show you what you can do.” Tobirama is a private person, but keeping Hashirama and Mito to himself seems selfish. Toru is part of their family now, and Tobirama should have brought him over earlier. Perhaps Mito would prove to be a good friend for Toru.

Pausing, Tobirama adds, “Do you have any letters you want to send to your family?”

“No,” Toru says, dead-eyed, and already Tobirama knows what his answer will be. “My entire family is dead.” He doesn’t smile or anything, but tilts his head so he’s looking in the sky and away from Tobirama. There is grief there, yes, grief like how Tobirama knows grief, knows how it seeps into every cell of his being. Toru breathes out and Tobirama feels like it should shake, but it doesn’t.

_(He cannot say mine too, because Hashirama and Mito still live. More than that, Tobirama still has his clan. He assumes Toru does too, but here with the Senju, he now doesn’t. He has himself and…)_

“You have me now,” Tobirama says. The words are unlike him, something that Hashirama might say, but the words are true. Sincere, even. He doesn’t even pause before adding, “And I will be better. I won’t leave you alone so much.”

An expression crosses Toru’s face. There and gone. Tobirama can’t quite make it out, can’t quite understand it. But that’s okay. There will be time to learn Toru, learn to read him, to truly see him, and Tobirama is done living a life with a stranger as his husband.

_(Sometimes Tobirama feels as if he has not grown from that small boy who stood beside his brothers and held their hands and promised them that the world would be better and they would never be alone.)_

In the end, Toru just inclines his head. “Thank you,” he says.

And so, every so slowly, things begin to change. Not by much, not at first, but little by little. Tobirama learns about his husband, learns to trust him, and the Senju Clan learns to look at Toru and see the husband of the Clan Heir.

* * *

Six missions later, Tobirama takes one last mission with Toru before the other will officially take missions for the clan, unguarded. It’s a relatively easy mission though the run had been long. Tobirama had been slightly worried when they’d found themselves with a tail of ninjas from a clan in Kaze no Kuni, who were better able to cross the desert after them and knew more sources of water than them, leaving them cut off from water.

Thankfully, both Tobirama and Toru had their own ways of getting around that and they certainly hadn’t cared for the attention it dragged to them.

“We can stay in an inn for the night,” Tobirama says after they’ve been travelling for a few hours through Ame no Kuni. Ame no Kuni, known for its rainfall, is considerably wet and muddy with few trees. The whole area seems full of swamps and mud and little else.

“That sounds divine,” Toru answers. “I was not looking forward to figuring out where to camp in this place.”

Tobirama tilts his head. “It is tricky,” he agrees. “You find a patch of somewhat hard ground, usually with a plant nearby that keeps the dirt together with its roots, and you have to lay down your sleeping mat and tent. It’s still rather uncomfortable. Most people travelling through this country prefer to speed through it without stopping.”

“Most people haven’t been doing that for three days without sleep,” Toru returns, only slightly sour. When Tobirama looks at him, however, he just has that same placid expression without a single sign of displeasure. He rarely does, though. If he’s complaining, Tobirama knows, then he doesn’t care. It’s the times he doesn’t complain, doesn’t talk, that you have to look out for, _(Toru does not wish to be a burden, Tobirama has yet to convince him that he’s not)_. “What do the clans do here?”

“There are only a few,” Tobirama says slowly. “And we know little about them. They are believed to work underground for the most part, work with the environment, or have something to do with the rain. They keep to themselves and there is little war here, largely because the mud is so treacherous.”

“Why have a war when a hole of mud can swallow your opponent whole, I guess,” Toru says, and Tobirama huffs a laugh.

“Indeed. The only good thing is that the roads are often checked frequently for stability and the inns are warm with hot springs.” Tobirama knows he won’t be using the hot springs. It’s too open and too unsafe for him to feel comfortable doing so, but he leaves the offer open for Toru.

Toru simply shakes his head. “A bed sounds very nice,” he agrees. “But I think I might leave the hot springs for when we’re out of the mud. There’s little point getting completely clean when it won’t even last ten hours.”

Amused, Tobirama leads the way to a civilian path. Here, the beginning of the mud appears obvious, dark and puddles of water line the road. The road itself appears more hard-packed dirt with numerous potholes and wheel tracks. But it’s solid underground and only gives away slightly beneath their feet, clearly made of something unlike the surrounding environment ground.

The inn quickly appears, the lights glistening through the darkness. It falls onto the road, pools of yellow flickering light. The noise can be heard too. Not much, it seems rather quiet, but there’s the roar of a fire and the low babble of conversation. Toru glances at Tobirama who steps forward, hood covering his head, and leads the way into the inn.

_(They are ninjas and Tobirama is well known, even if civilians do not recognise him. Better to hide his features, better to hide who he is, then be recognised and have his whereabouts leaked to one of their enemies.)_

Following behind, Toru keeps his hood on and carefully slouches, appearing smaller than he really is. He listens quietly as Tobirama talks to the innkeeper, only haggling slightly—it appears that Tobirama is also tired.

Eventually, they have secured a small meal for themselves to take upstairs along with a room. They trail after the innkeeper to a room at the end of the hallway and are given a plain key.

The room is small with a single large window on one wall, looking out into the darkness of the night and the drizzle that looks like snow due to the light from the window. There’s a dark wooden wardrobe pushed up against one wall and a door leading to a bathroom on the opposite the wall.

Meanwhile the bed, of which there is only one, has its wooden headboard pushed against one wall and white bed sheets and whatnot. It looks immaculate and Toru dares not touch it until he’s changed out of his muddy and wet clothing.

“I did not realise it was one bed,” Tobirama says as he places the tray down on a wooden table that wobbles, one table shorter than the others.

“I can take the floor, if you wish,” Toru says after a heartbeat had passed. He hadn’t realised it would be a problem, but then again Tobirama rarely initiates physical contact even with his brother. It’s only natural that they remain apart, _(in his worst moments, Toru hates this about Tobirama; hates that Tobirama is his one tie to the Senju Clan and that Toru remains friendless, hates that he feels so lonely that he could die from it)_.

Tobirama glances at him, gaze considering. “The bed is big enough for both of us,” he says when the silence goes on. Then, he adds somewhat more cautiously, “I don’t mind. I’ve shared with worse bed mates.”

“Hashirama-sama?” Toru asks, mouth tilting up in a wry grin. In response, Tobirama hums and Toru slips into the bathroom. There’s not much there. It’s about the size of a closet with only a sink and a toilet, but Toru changes into the remaining clean clothes he has sealed away and uses water from the sink to wipe his face down. When he returns to the room, Tobirama has also changed and has started eating.

Toru takes a seat across from him and begins to eat as well. It’s a plain meal, and a silent one. But it feels normal now, though Toru still can’t say for certain whether he finds the silence comforting or not. Tobirama finishes the meal first, and gets up, moving into the bathroom to get changed and somewhat washed up. In the meantime, Toru finishes his own dinner and places the tray with everything on it outside the room door. The innkeeper had promised someone would come by to pick it up later.

Warm, dry, and feeling somewhat safe, Toru yawns. The sleepless nights and constant movement of the last few days are finally catching up to him. There’s no point trying to stay awake either. They’re here to sleep well for the final leg of their journey, so he simply crawls into the bed, sticking close to one side and closing his eyes. The cover is thin, but Toru just curls up and lets his breathing even out.

He’s not fully asleep when the bed dips. He hums questioningly and gets a beat of silence in return. “Sleep,” his husband says at last. The bed creaks and then Tobirama clearly settles. Toru cannot feel him nearby and so assumes that the Senju is near the other end of the bed.

_(Somehow, he still feels lonely even when they are so close.)_

* * *

Toru wakes up cold. The thin cover isn’t enough to keep him warm and he curls up tighter. From his back, there’s heat—which doesn’t make sense. Blearily opening his eyes, Toru rolls over and turns to look at Tobirama.

The other is on his back, hands folded over his stomach, and breathing carefully. Heat pulses in time with it.

“You can’t keep that up and sleep,” Toru says, words barely slurring. “And you need to sleep.” That much is true. Tobirama has been going just as hard Toru has for the last few days and has possibly done more of the heavy lifting fighting-wise—largely because he had been targeted due to being the Clan Heir, but still.

A moment of silence passes before Tobirama opens his eyes, head turning slightly to look at Toru, though Toru can barely make him out in the darkness. Just the paleness of his skin, the way it calls what little light there is to it; his eyes, red, and fading into the darkness to leave pools of black. “I won’t be able to sleep with this chill,” Tobirama says at last.

Toru gives himself a second to consider how awkward everything is about to become, then shoves that aside. “We can conserve body warmth,” he says. “I can either lie at your back or you can lie at mine.” Back to back is, of course, an option but it’s not going to be as helpful as they clearly need in the freezing temperatures of the room. In the end, it comes down to preference and trust. Does Tobirama trust Toru to watch his back and protect him enough to not have his arms free? Does Toru do the same?

_(Toru has nothing to lose.)_

“Alright,” Tobirama says, voice low as he rolls over and inches closer to Toru so that they’re face to face.

Toru rolls over, presenting his back to Tobirama. His husband settles against him, strong and warm and Toru relaxes into it, closing his eyes. He hadn’t realised how cold he had been. Tobirama, too, seems to relax slightly, even going as far to sling an arm over Toru lightly.

And, in the darkness, well-hidden, Toru can’t help but smile. He doesn’t let himself pretend that this is anything else but what it is. He does, however, want life to be like this more. To have comfort so easily offered, companionship so easily given. That’s not his life, though, but he will make do.

_(He always has.)_

* * *

Everything changes, slowly, and after a couple of missions without Tobirama, Toru finds himself receiving smiles from the Senju Clan. It warms him, that he is no longer so alone or ignored. It likely helps that he is seen alongside Tobirama—training, completing work, talking to him.

People speak to Toru now. Not just children either. The children have always done so and Toru loves them dearly for that. No, now most people will speak to Toru of their own violation. And so Toru makes friends.

He talks to the stall owners, to training ninjas, to teachers, to farmers. He talks to everyone willing to speak to him.

_(In the end, this is Toru who has no ties but Tobirama. This is Toru when everyone who he loves or has ever loved is far out of his reach in another time. This is Toru who has held himself apart and is only just beginning to realise how lonely that can get.)_

And so Toru begins to make a home for himself in the Senju Clan. And it shows. It shows in the way people greet him when he walks along the streets, when other ninjas ask him to spar, when people come to him first rather than heading to his husband.

This is how Toru tracks the changes: the number of people who smile at him, the way his husband holds himself straighter, _(softer)_ , how it gets easier to smile most days. In this way, Toru’s life changes from a bland thing that leaves him ignored and lonely, to someone who is happy and content in life.

_(He finds his own way to live. Finds a way to live. He always does.)_

* * *

Toru’s world changes, steadily, bit by bit. It changes and changes and changes. But this is not the world as a whole. This is not the Senju Clan’s world changing nor the Uchiha Clan’s. Their worlds remain the same, full of fighting and war and blood. Until Toru changes it, of course.

It starts with a mission, _(it always does, it seems)_. A mission that, technically, Tobirama should probably be sent on. But Toru’s husband is tired and withdrawn and working ceaselessly and Toru had offered. Toru had offered to take it and Tobirama, relieved, had let him.

So it starts with a mission. A mission that’s closer to the Uchiha Clan Compound than most of the missions the Senju Clan would take. But the money offered had been good and the client’s a noble which makes it more important. The Senju Clan needs allies in the capital—or at least to have a good reputation with them.

Toru’s heading back from his mission when he stumbles across Uchiha Izuna. Except it’s not Izuna that Toru sees at first. It’s Sasuke, _(Sasuke who had lived a happy life, when everything had been said and done; Sasuke who Toru misses and mourns as much as he misses and mourns everyone)_. Then he blinks and the resemblance is gone. Izuna is harder, fiercer perhaps. There’s a grimness to his face, a thinness that comes from living hard. This is far cry from Sasuke.

_(This is also what Toru sees: a child, a young child, glaring at him. Toru is not a child, no matter his body. He has lived a number of decades more than the child in front of him. And, in the end, he always believes that children do not need to be involved in a war, that they should not be fighting in one. He’s Toru. How can he think anything else?)_

Izuna is standing stiffly, blood running along his leg, already darkening the fabric and making it stick to his skin. His Sharingan whirls, bright red and sharp and Toru does not meet his eyes, _(though he longs to)_. Instead, Toru just keeps his hands flat and open and facing Izuna. “Are you alright?” He asks because Izuna stands without a weapon, stands injured, and has made no move to attack.

Even before his marriage to Tobirama, Toru had never seen Izuna in this life. Nor has Izuna seen him. Toru remains relatively unknown, appearance-wise, at least. He has nothing on him that links him to the Senju Clan and he hasn’t fought against the Uchiha with the Senju Clan either. To Izuna, Toru is an unknown.

To Izuna, right now, Toru is death unless he makes it clear he’s not.

“I’m Toru,” he says, hands still empty and flat and facing Izuna. It’s a gesture of openness and unwillingness to fight. Then, he gestures to Izuna’s bleeding leg, “I can heal you. If you want.”

Izuna scowls at him, narrowed eyes, clearly suspicious. Technically, Toru knows, Izuna should make it home from this—that’s what happened originally. But Toru is here and has married Tobirama and such things had never been recorded in history, so maybe he won’t. It looks, right now, that Izuna won’t make it home alive. Already, the blood is pooling beneath his leg. If the wound is deep enough, it could be a cut artery. Even if it’s not, there’s enough blood there to be a problem.

_(And Toru isn’t thinking about how he’s giving the Senju Clan another body to fight against. He’s just thinking how there’s a child bleeding out in front of him and he’s capable of helping.)_

A bark of laughter leaves Izuna’s lips. It’s harsh, grating, and rests ill with Toru. “I don’t suppose it could get worse.”

There are likely ways Toru could make things worse. Things with seals that led to massacres—but Toru has never been that person and he’s not about to start now. Not when there’s no need to. Instead, he just steps forward and his hands begin to glow green.

He probably shouldn’t know medical jutsu. But he doesn’t think about that. There are many things he shouldn’t know and he avoids them where possible, but sometimes things are unavoidable.

The first jutsu is a simple diagnostic one, figuring out what’s gone wrong. The artery is nicked but the tendon is completely destroyed. It’s likely if Izuna went home like this, if he was able to make it home, he’d have a permeant injury that would seriously debilitate him and take him from the war frontlines. If Toru had been less capable with medical jutsu, he wouldn’t be able to fix anything properly to the necessary standard. Thankfully, Toru can do this much, though it’ll be tricky.

_(Once upon a time, Toru was backup medic-nin for an ANBU team. That was a long time ago.)_

“Stay still,” he tells Izuna, crouching down. “You’ve got a nicked artery and a snapped tendon or something. This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Izuna asks, muscles tense beneath Toru’s hands. Toru ignores him, channelling more chakra and controlling it carefully. The first thing to be fixed is the artery, which is painstaking work because it cannot be done just by forcing chakra into the cells to speed up the healing naturally. This requires everything to be remade and pieced together and isn’t really part of the body’s natural healing. By the time he’s finished, he’s overly warm and probably sweating. His hands remain still though, refusing to tremble, and he begins to work on the tendon which is slightly easier. Possibly because he’s reconnecting it entirely rather than repairing part of it and then fixing the additional damage caused by it.

He finishes, almost falling backwards. A hand catches him, holding him upright by his arm. He’s weak now. Body almost trembling, but not quite. The wound itself isn’t quite closed. So he pulls himself together and calls on another healing jutsu. The green flickers around his hands before the glow and chakra flow stabilises. The skin knits together slowly, until all that remains is the blood surrounding the injury.

Standing, he sways, dizzy. “Oi! You alright?” Izuna says, an arm gripping his elbow tightly and keeping him standing.

“Tired,” Toru says. The word sticks to his tongue and he probably shouldn’t have said that. But. He just healed Izuna. Izuna probably won’t kill him because of that, _(in this world, Izuna could kill him; Izuna should kill him because he’s clearly not an ally—but he doesn’t, he doesn’t because he was healed for no reason, he doesn’t because there’s been enough death and sometimes even he’s tired of it)_. Toru sways again, legs almost collapsing, and Izuna quickly shifts so he has an arm around Toru’s waist and shoves Toru’s arm over his shoulders.

“Oh no you don’t,” the Uchiha tells him. “No saviour of mine just gets to collapse and certainly not in a pool of my blood. That makes an awful story, don’t you think?” Toru hums and allows his head to loll. He’s on the edge of chakra exhaustion which is. Bad. Probably. But the Uchihas are safe right? Family.

Izuna helps him away from the clearing and they end up elsewhere. Toru has no idea where they are but Izuna helps him sit down, leg clearly sore but uncaring for it as Toru sways and blinks slowly and almost falls asleep on his own. “Who are you anyway?” Izuna says, sounding rather aggressive as he builds up a fire. Which. He should probably go. Toru thinks there might be a reason for that.

“Am Toru,” he says again. Maybe Izuna will remember it now that he’s not dying of blood loss or whatever.

“Kami, how are you even alive?”

“Good,” Toru says, trying to frown in Izuna’s direction. Then he remembers he actually needs to finish his sentence. “Ninja. Good ninja.”

“Are you?” Izuna says, but the words lack any true anger. “You just healed a random enemy ninja. Are you sure you’re a good ninja?”

Toru frowns at that. “Not enemy,” he manages. He’s definitely slurring his words together but Izuna seems to understand him regardless. In response, Izuna just sighs and hands him something. Toru glances down at his hands. It looks like a bar wrapped in foil of some kind?

“You eat it,” Izuna says. “With your mouth. I’m assuming you can do that much.”

Toru unwraps it and takes a mouthful, shooting Izuna a glare. He thinks he’s been insulted, though he’s not sure how. With the food, however—which is rapidly consumed—his mind is beginning to come back online. He checks his chakra levels mindlessly and ooh yeah, he dipped too close to nothing. He could take a chakra pill, but he’d prefer to save those until he has to take them.

Something in his mind wiggles. Like an itch he can’t scratch. He’s certain that there’s something he should probably warn Izuna about. He can’t quite remember though. It’s on the tip of his tongue.

“Thanks,” he says, scrunching the wrapper up and shoving it in his weapons pouch. Not worth the chakra to burn it. “You didn’t have to.”

“Didn’t have to?!” Izuna throws his arms in the air and begins to pace, muttering under his breathe. Toru, amused, only catches snatches like ‘fucking life debt’, ‘stupid ass ninjas falling over themselves’, ‘who even does that??’, and his personal favourite—a long, drawn out ‘what the fuck?’

Eventually, Izuna stands still in front of Toru, staring down at him. He doesn’t seem angry or anything—just… grumpy, perhaps, and confused. “I owe you my life,” he says, _(and he’s so young and so confused by mercy and kindness and Toru kind of wants to wrap him up in blankets and make sure he’s safe)_. “And that means something. If I can offer something that’s within my power to grant and doesn’t backfire on my clan, I will do it.”

Toru wonders if the Uchiha Clan has protocol for life debts. It seems like something rather weird to consider. Surely they wouldn’t care in a world full of war like this one? Toru doesn’t think the Senju Clan has anything like that. He should ask Tobirama.

 _Shit_. Tobirama! That’s who Toru should be thinking about. He knows Tobirama has a rather strong and large sensory field. What’s the chance of Tobirama sensing Izuna and Toru near each other and worrying? Not… Not that Toru is extremely important in Tobirama’s eyes, but they’re closer now.

“You should probably go,” Toru says, standing up. His legs still feel weak but he’s not wobbling now and he can probably begin heading home. “My husband might come for me and you likely don’t want to be here for that.”

Izuna frowns, worried. “Do you need me to kill him?” He asks, which is sweet to be honest.

“If I needed him dead, I could do it myself,” Toru answers. “No. I’ll be fine. He’ll just be worried.”

In response to that, Izuna tilts his head. “At least someone you know is normal,” he mutters. “Are you-” He abandons his sentence, an unreadable expression crossing his face, _(he is just a child)_.

“I might see you again,” Toru says, smiling. “Hopefully we will not be enemies.”

“Hopefully,” Izuna echoes, and then he is gone.

Toru hopes that they see each other again—and not on the battlefield. The Uchiha-Senju war thing seems… massive, but also rather insignificant too. The clans don’t live to fight each other. It’s something that seems to be more out of duty than anything else, and with how Hashirama goes on about peace…

He hasn’t exactly spoken to Hashirama properly, doesn’t know him really well, but even he’s heard Hashirama plans for peace, _(and he knows the history of his Konoha though he doesn’t know if it’s the same for this time)_. Largely because of the sheer amount of shouting Hashirama does in relation to them, and Tobirama’s occasional mentions.

Peace is possible. Toru’s own history shows that much is possible. But in his history, Izuna dies and the Uchiha Clan abandons the war, forced to backdown, and Madara eventually leaves Konoha, a traitor.

Could Toru change that? Could he change how peace happens so there is less bloodshed? He’s in a unique position to do so. It sounds impossible. _Peace_ , as it stands right now, sounds impossible. But Toru just healed the Clan Heir and wasn’t attacked in return. The best fighters on the warfront are children, young and hard and grim. They know body counts better than they know kindness.

Not to mention, Toru’s in a unique position to be able to talk about it, strange as he is to the war. It might, however, make his position within the clan more tenuous. On the other hand, it could be what leads to fewer deaths. The majority of the clan, anyway, are on Hashirama’s side. Or, at the very least, will listen to him. Tobirama is an outlier, but he doesn’t protest the idea of peace, just questions how they will gain it and how they know the Uchiha Clan will stick to it.

Everything’s moot point anyway when you consider the fact that the Uchiha Clan has to agree first. If only Toru could make everyone realise that the other clan is only made up of people just like them.

Well, guess he has a new project on his hands. Step 1: Identify the main opposers to peace in the Uchiha Clan.

He has absolutely no idea how to do that. The only good news here is that he has Izuna on his side, kind of. Perhaps he should recreate an information network. Does the Senju Clan have one of those? Probably.

What he really needs is more Uchihas on his side. Having none is very inconvenient. Then again, everyone has to start somewhere.

_(Breathe in, breathe out. A hand on his shoulder, an arm around his back, comfort offered without a thought. His team would believe in him, if they were there, they would trust him to get the world to peace. Even if they’re not here, he knows they support him. He can do this.)_

* * *

That is not the last he sees of Izuna, it turns out. Despite the fact Tobirama apparently had a minor panic over Toru and Izuna meeting, he does nothing to prevent Toru from going on missions. Just cautions Toru to be careful and watches him go.

This time the mission is one where Toru is actually trying to hide, so he’s aware that Tobirama likely can’t sense him. Hopefully Tobirama can’t sense Izuna either, who’s popped up beside him as they spy on some noble’s illegitimate son’s child having an affair with another woman.

The client is the noble. The illegitimate son recently became noticed by the court and high-class gossip so the noble was now trying to clean up the family tree. As far as Toru knew, that meant stopping any affairs from occurring and possibly murdering anyone who became a problem.

“Are you working for the noble too?” Toru asks, glancing sideways at Izuna who looks somewhat surprised to see Toru.

Izuna names them and Toru nods. “Yeah,” Izuna says. “Apparently I am. Did he hire two ninjas for the same reason?”

“I imagine so,” Toru says, rolling his eyes. “Did they just… forget?”

“Forget what?” Izuna asks.

Right. Toru forgot he didn’t know. Well, no time like the present right? Worse case scenario, Izuna tries to light him on fire and the mission goes down in flames and any plan Toru has for peace probably dies.

Hopefully it won’t come to that.

“I’m married,” Toru says, glancing to the supposed homewrecker as she enters a bakery, “to Senju Tobirama.”

“That’s a bad joke,” Izuna says.

“Good thing it’s not a joke then.”

“You- What? _HOW?_ ”

Toru shrugs. “Political marriage,” he says at last. “I’m a Mizushima, but the Senju Clan took some of my clan members as POWs and we agreed to a treaty as a result. And I married into the clan.”

“Do you want them dead?” Izuna asks. “Or has this entire thing been a trick?”

“I would like a life without war,” Toru says, allowing some of his exhaustion and sincerity underline his words. “I would like a life where people smile far more than they grieve. I would like a life where the children growing up on the streets are safe and get to learn how to make flower crowns instead of learning to count their coins. I want peace, Izuna-san, so that we all have a future outside of the war we’ve buried ourselves in.”

_(I want peace so everyone learns kindness, he does not say. I want to have peace so people can be happy. I want peace because this world could be so much better.)_

“Is that why you healed me? To get the Uchiha Clan to agree?”

“No,” Toru says. He doesn’t even think about it. “I would have healed you if you were anyone else too.” He knows what he says is unbelievable in this life, for these people, but Izuna just nods slowly, thoughtfully. “You were injured and dying and I could help. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Why would you?” Izuna returns, but it’s half-hearted at best. “What’s the Mizushima Clan like? To produce someone like you?”

“It’s… more peaceful there,” Toru says at last. “There’s not so much fighting over missions but it’s a harder lifestyle. We have our own allies though, and our own enemies.”

“We don’t hear much about what goes on over to the east,” Izuna says. And it’s an offer. Not going after intelligence or anything—but just an offer to listen.

“I can imagine,” Toru says. “Gossip doesn’t travel too well, with how isolated our clans are.” And then he tells Izuna about the Mizushima Clan Compound. The way it felt, the way it looked, the safety of it. He tells Izuna about their allies, about their enemies, and about what had once been. Speaks of the ocean and swimming and the ships that came to them, full of people from all over the places, and the ships that they had hunted down in turn, _(ships who had stolen people, taken them, enslaved them, and how they got what had been coming for them)_.

Izuna listens to him. It’s the first time in a long, long time that Toru’s really spoken about his clan at length, _(and—if by accident—his descriptions turn away from the clan and towards the Uzushio he had known and loved, well, there’s no one else but him who knows)_. In the end, they fall to silence and return to the mission. But the silence is thoughtful, more than anything else, rather than tense and… and it seems like everything might be okay.

It takes only two more days before the mission is complete. By then, Toru would call Izuna a friend, _(though he does wonder whether things will remain this way or if he’s destined to lose another friend)_. Just before they leave each other, Izuna catches Toru’s arm, a loose grip that makes Toru pause, glancing at the Uchiha.

“Peace…” Izuna trails off, shaking his head. “I want you to meet up with my cousin, Hikaku, at some point. I think. Well, we’ll see. I’ll see you around, Toru.”

Toru inclines his head. “Hopefully,” he says with a slight smile, and then they are gone.

* * *

Not everything, however, is peace and friends and good things. Toru smiles and laughs and does his best, but some days seem to be more grey skies than blue skies. Sometimes it’s harder to smile and hard to laugh and sometimes Toru feels like he’s moving through molasses.

_(The truth is this: some days are harder than others. Some days grief still tangles its vines around Toru’s limbs, chaining him down and pressing thorns against his skin. Some days are harder than others, but there are always bad days. You just have to remember it passes, in time. It always does. Just hold on a little bit longer.)_

One day, Toru just wakes up and knows. Knows this isn’t quite his day. It’s just… going to be a day. Thankfully, there’s nothing really important to do today. He can leave his work and just. Well, he’s sure he’ll do something.

He gets out of bed. Changes into daytime clothing more out of routine than anything else, and settles in the lounge room. There’s no energy buzzing beneath his skin. He’s not restless just tired.

_(He usually separates bad days into two different kinds—the ones where he’s restless with energy trapped beneath his skin and no outlet; and then the ones where he’s just bone-deep exhausted.)_

Tobirama catches sight of him, sitting there, a book in hand. A blanket is slipped over his shoulders and he’s curled up beneath it, squished into the corner. “Are you alright?” He asks hesitantly, having never seen Toru like this before. His husband just blinks at him. And doesn’t quite say anything, just dips his head in a nod. It’s obviously a lie and Tobirama wavers, torn between asking Toru for the truth and the work waiting for him.

The work, however, will wait for Tobirama. His husband, though they may not act as such, will say nothing and let Tobirama be—will say nothing until it passes, and Tobirama doesn’t think he likes that idea.

“You don’t seem like you are,” Tobirama says bluntly, as that approach seems to work best with Toru—unless Toru doesn’t wish to say anything. In which case, nothing will make him crack and he’ll smoothly manoeuvre around you. Tobirama would likely find it impressive, but unfortunately it’s used against him far too often to really be impressive, just irritating.

Toru’s shoulders lift and fall with a sigh that shudders out of him. “It’s just a day,” he says softly. There’s so much there that Tobirama doesn’t understand. _Why_ is it just a day? Is there a reason that Toru’s aware of that caused it? What can he do to help? Will anything help?

And, well, Tobirama might not be great at communication or physical contact or anything—but communication is important in a relationship. This has been stressed numerous times, though he hasn’t felt the need to sit down and have a proper conversation about everything or anything.

“Could you expand on that?” He asks, and that feels right. Toru glances at him and- and he looks so small, _(so alone)_ , on the couch by himself. Tobirama can’t remember ever having to spend one of his bad days alone, even when he wanted to. His brother had always been far too willing to spend time with him even when Tobirama had attempted to kick him out, _(in his defence, being ten had been an awful time for everyone around; he now knows that he enjoys having his brother around… it helps, though he’d never admit it—not even when tortured)_.

Toru blinks, a flash of surprise crossing his face, before it’s quickly buried again. “Grief,” he says at last, though he doesn’t specify what for. Then again, Tobirama knows all too well how challenging it can be to identify _why_ one is grieving. “Everything’s a bit much today and-” He cuts himself off sharply, leaving Tobirama confused.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks and that—that sends another flicker of surprise across Toru’s face. Which… is understandable, to be honest. Tobirama has become somewhat friends with Toru through all their missions. Trusts him, certainly. But there’s little interaction between them in the compound still. The house is still, unapologetically, Tobirama’s. As far as he can discern, there’s no real sign of Toru’s existence here. Tobirama knows that he keeps few keepsakes, but Toru—if he has any—doesn’t show them outside of his room, which Tobirama hasn’t ventured into.

In the silence that follows his question, Tobirama wonders whether Toru will refuse. It wouldn’t be strange if he did, but the silence seems to indicate that Toru is really thinking about it. “If… if you’re not busy,” Toru says at last, with a heavy swallow. “That’d be—good. That’d be good.”

If Tobirama were a better husband, he’d likely try to tell Toru that he’s the priority. But Tobirama married for political reasons and is not a great husband. Toru is, but Tobirama puts his clan first. He would never do otherwise.

“I can,” Tobirama says. “What do you wa- need?” He changes his wording last minute, moving away from wants and towards needs. Toru, he thinks, would ignore his own desires—even his needs, if he thought it’d be better.

_(Self sacrifice. It’s something that Tobirama rarely sees outside of the battlefield, but then Toru had fought on a battlefield too. Perhaps that’s where he picked up the habit, and now it stays with him. Even when he’s home. Even when he’s safe.)_

“Nothing,” Toru says. “Just…” He trails off and just shakes his head, pulling the blanket higher over his shoulders. The book’s become abandoned on the empty seat next to him. Tobirama doubts Toru even began read it in the first place.

That’s not what catches Tobirama’s attention, however. It’s how Toru says nothing and yet asks for Tobirama to stay. Perhaps…

It occurs to Tobirama, for the first time, that Toru might not be like him, who prefers to initiate physical contact and even then, rarely does it. He thinks about that night on a mission, a month or so ago, when Tobirama had woken up with Toru pressed against him and—it hadn’t been awful. Somewhat surprising and unfamiliar, but not uncomfortable.

It had felt safe, almost.

“Do you need a hug?” He asks, and Toru jerks his head up. It’s the first quick movement he’s seen from the other this morning.

“If that’s- I mean, is it- I-” Toru looks lost and out of his depth, but he just nods, somewhat shy, and Tobirama steps forward. He reaches out a hand, which Toru takes, still looking confused, and stands up when Tobirama tugs him.

Tobirama takes another step and wraps his arms around Toru. They’re almost the same height, but Tobirama is slightly taller. He tugs Toru closer, trying to be the warmth that Hashirama offers all too often. He doesn’t know if he succeeds—but Toru relaxes, at last, tension draining away. He seems to tip into Tobirama’s body, like Tobirama is the only thing that can keep him standing. Then he ducks his head, hiding it in the crook of Tobirama’s neck and just- shakes. There are no tears or hitching sobs or anything that indicates he might be crying. It’s a silent thing, this trembling. A breakdown entirely hidden.

Tobirama closes his eyes in the face of it. It’s so fragile and Toru is far from fragile. Now, though, he feels like glass ready to splinter if Tobirama applies that little bit more strength.

After a few minutes, Toru breathes in, shaky, but breathes out much smoother. He repeats his steady breathing, holding it for a few seconds, and Tobirama finds himself echoing it without a thought. And… he doesn’t mind this. Doesn’t mind hugging Toru, especially when he can feel how comfortable the other now feels.

_(Some days he might feel otherwise, but he doesn’t think he’ll mind most days. Maybe things will change now, maybe he can offer this, bad husband as he is.)_

“Thank you,” Toru whispers. The words are choked with emotion but Tobirama doesn’t mention it, just hums. “Thank you.”

Tobirama breathes out slowly and thinks. Thinks about how Toru clearly needed this—has been needing this for a while, _(and remembers those few times where Toru looked like he was about to reach out and then didn’t; this has been going on for some time, it seems)_. “If you… If you need something like this, Toru, you just need to ask. I can’t promise you always or frequently. But I can promise more than what has been.”

“You don’t have to,” Toru says and the fact he doesn’t protest says a lot about it.

“Toru,” Tobirama says, drawing back just enough to meet Toru’s gaze and hold it. “You are my husband. I know… This isn’t like a traditional marriage or anything, but I care for you still. Offering you comfort when I am capable of giving it, whether it be in a physical or verbal manner, is hardly a hardship.”

Kindness, it seems, is like a blow to Toru—who closes his eyes against it, but folds into Tobirama once again, head resting against his shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispers once again. Tobirama doesn’t respond, just holds him and hopes to be a better husband in the future.

* * *

Tobirama wakes up a few hours past midnight. Shifting, Toru a warm body pressed against his back, he frowns, trying to figure out what woke him up and-

Is that… Izuna? Flaring his chakra near the borders of the Senju land—but not pressing close. He seems to be in no man’s land, actually.

“Tobirama?” A voice says, syllables almost slurring together. He can feel Toru shift, and an arm drops around his waist. “Everything good?”

A pulse of warmth shoots through Tobirama’s body, at the trust Toru now shows—but also at how comfortable this is for both of them, _(it’s safety now, but it’s also something Tobirama feels capable of offering more often than not)_. “It looks like Uchiha Izuna is near our clan’s boundary with… with one other Uchiha.”

“Izuna?” Toru echoes, and it’s clear he’s beginning to wake up. Tobirama hums, somewhat relaxed because Izuna isn’t coming closer at all and really, he just feels alert and slightly stressed but rather calm. Nothing to be worried about, probably. Still, he sits up as he should probably alert the patrol over there.

Then, he pauses, because Toru sounds… Well, sounds like something. Tobirama isn’t quite sure what it is. So he asks.

“I met Izuna, briefly,” Toru says slowly, and Tobirama swallows against the instant fear and panic that tries to engulf him. “He didn’t attack me or anything,” Toru says. “But we spoke. He mentioned something about peace.”

“Izuna. And peace,” Tobirama says. “That sounds impossible.”

Beside him, Toru sits up, pressed against his shoulder. It helps Tobirama feel like this isn’t a fight or an argument or anything—it’s a conversation. He has yet to truly fight with Toru about anything, largely because Toru is willing to avoid fights and leans towards discussing problems before they arise. His own logical way of dealing with things matches Tobirama’s own methods, _(they fit together well, strangely enough, and it’s better than Tobirama could have hoped for when he agreed to marriage)_.

“A lot of things sound impossible,” Toru says. “Peace is one of them because you don’t really know it. My clan had peace, though. It’s possible, Tobirama.”

Hashirama has frequently spoken about peace, as a child and still as an adult fighting in a never-ending war. But Tobirama knows his brother is a dreamer, always has been, but to hear Toru speak of it—Toru who is practical and logical and somehow believes in impossible things like peace…

“Why is Izuna flaring his chakra?” Tobirama asks instead.

“Ah,” Toru says, rubbing the back of his neck. “That might be due to me. He likely wants to meet up—and he knows you’re my husband.”

And Toru wasn’t killed for it? Truly an impossible thing.

Tobirama sighs. “Let’s go see Izuna and see if we can figure something out then,” he says. “As I’m assuming you’re planning to go.”

“Thank you,” Toru says with a smile, as he pulls on his uniform and secures his weapons. Tobirama does the same. He’s no stranger to getting ready in the darkness, but it feels strange to do this—to go out with Toru, stalking across the rooftops and disappearing from the compound without anyone noticing, _(he makes notes of the gaps and will bring it up when he gets back)_.

They run quickly and silently through the night. It’s still dark when they reach the edge of the boundaries, and Tobirama ghosts after Toru, feeling like the wraith he’s often called. Ahead, Izuna and the second Uchiha wait.

“Toru! You came!” Izuna says, grinning, then he spies Tobirama a half-step behind Toru and curbs his joy. He gives the other a short nod. The whole thing feels surreal, but Tobirama doesn’t give himself a second to doubt, just nods in return. Izuna jerks forward the other Uchiha. “This is Hikaku, my cousin.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Toru says with a smile.

And Hikaku, looking somewhat confused, simply smiles back. “It’s nice to meet the both of you too, I guess.” Then, he glances at Izuna, opens his mouth before shutting it without saying anything.

“So is there a reason you brought us all out here?” Toru asks, somehow ignoring all the tension and hostility.

“I thought about what you said,” Izuna responds. “About peace and all that. I don’t know whether it’s possible, but it is possible to try.”

That should be impossible. But Toru is involved, so perhaps that negates the impossibility of it all.

“Fuck the paperwork,” Hikaku mutters, _(which is something Tobirama agrees with and is decidedly not thinking about tonight)_. “Alright, I’ve got at least three potential treaties to be looked over.” He glances up, meet Tobirama’s gaze evenly—and Tobirama is so surprised that he lets the Uchiha. “Is the Senju Clan going to be able to do this? The Uchiha Clan will, once we tell Madara and he screams about it enough.”

“Nii-san doesn’t do that much screaming,” Izuna says, exasperated, and it’s clearly an argument often tread between them. It’s easy to see how strong their ties are, how much they love each other, how _human_ they are.

Tobirama had somewhat forgotten that beyond their eyes and their fighting abilities the Uchiha were human too. Beside him, Toru is silent and lets Tobirama speak here, _(the Senju Clan is Tobirama’s more than it’s Toru’s, and Tobirama is the one who will speak for them here)_. He inclines his head, “My clan is used to discussions of peace. It seems impossible, but they will bend if the opportunity is given to us. My brother frequently speaks of it.”

“Alright then,” Izuna says, breathing out slowly almost like a sigh. “Alright, we can do this.”

“Once we get Madara on our side, it’ll be simple,” Hikaku says. He runs a hand through his hair, messing it up further. “I can get the clan mostly sorted and everything. The Elders will be yours to deal with for the most part, I’m not in an official authority position within the clan.”

“Yeah, officially,” Izuna says, rolling his eyes. “Unofficially, you’re third in command and you’re just refusing any actual positions because you hate dealing with the Elders.”

“If you let me deal with them my way, we’d never face any opposition,” Hikaku says. “What’s the point in having Elders who are just old or whatever? We should be having people in the council who support everyone’s opinions and know what the general population want—not going for their own agendas and whatever.”

Tobirama blinks because that’s… an interesting concept. He hasn’t heard of anyone voting in or electing their own Elders. Beside him, Toru hums thoughtfully and Tobirama wonders what he’s thinking about.

If his brother’s village goes ahead—which is likely, considering how everything is going at the moment—then their leader should probably be elected. There should be elected positions for the council as well, actually. If the village is for both civilians and ninjas, then they need people to be elected from both categories, and then there are those who aren’t in any clan and-

Perhaps he’s getting ahead of himself. “Get your brother to send a message about peace to mine,” he tells Izuna. “My brother’s been sending one most months now, but when the Uchiha Clan agrees, things will move quickly.”

Izuna nods. “You got it,” he says.

“Onwards to peace,” Toru says, and Tobirama glances at him, and is unsurprised to see his husband smiling. “To less death and fighting and longer childhoods.”

_(For the too-small bodies buried before they reached their double digits, for the ghosts that haunt him, for the graves he still visits, for the children Toru loves and those Tobirama has taught. For all of them—peace.)_

“To peace,” Tobirama finds himself echoing with the others. In the darkness of the night, the secrecy of this, he feels like it’s possible. More than that, he feels like it’s already promised—the future is in their hands.

* * *

Konoha is not built overnight. It takes months of work and, before that, many many meetings about treaties and alliances and discussions about a potential village that both Hashirama and Madara dreamt of as children.

It’s nothing Tobirama had dreamt of, but he does have plans, _(he is Hashirama’s brother and, for his brother, he would do many things; for his clan, he would do many things—and with peace, he will do his best for both of them)_. It’s not just him and Hashirama, however. There’s also Izuna and Madara and everyone else who plays a role.

There’s so much work to be done, and there will be more to be done in the future too. There’s no time for stopping, not really, but Tobirama finds himself taking a break in one of the training grounds with Toru.

Toru who technically allowed all of this to happen. “You doing alright there?” Toru says, and Tobirama blinks, brushing away his thoughts.

“Yes,” he says, looking at his husband. It feels true too. Tobirama doesn’t know if he’s ever felt better, really. His clan is at peace, happy and healthy and safe, and he doesn’t know if he’s ever seen his brother smile and laugh so much. Mito, too, is happy, even though much of the handling of the clan is now in her hands.

Smiling, Toru says, “That’s good. Oh, are those your kids over there?”

“I don’t have kids,” Tobirama automatically retorts even as he looks over to where Toru is looking. However, when he looks, he does see a small gaggle of children, some of who he’s taught a little bit when he has time. At least two of them are ones Tobirama has taught frequently—Uchiha Kagami and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

“Tobirama-sensei!” The two call, scrambling over themselves to reach him.

A laugh escapes Toru. “Are you sure about that?” And Tobirama rolls his eyes because he knows how Toru is around kids. If they end up with kids, it’s _definitely_ going to be due to Toru’s habit of adopting any that come into close range.

The other children follow, the majority more cautious except for four others who follow on Kagami and Hiruzen’s heels, but towards Toru. “Toru-sensei! I thought you weren’t able to train us today?”

“Looks like you have your own kids,” Tobirama says to Toru, amused.

Even as Toru ducks down, he rolls his eyes. “You know full well how many children know me,” he says. Then, looking at his students, “I’m with my husband today, and so I can’t train you today.”

The four glance at Tobirama and one pulls an expression before hiding it. However, the child is only that—a child, and Tobirama is a full-blooded shinobi who’s capable of spotting and understanding a child’s expression. That had been surprise, more than anything else. “Did you not tell your students who you’re married to?”

Toru shrugs. “A fun exercise,” he says. The grin Tobirama spots tells him that Toru is entertained by how people react. Tobirama doesn’t get the same joy but it is somewhat amusing, to see how people react when they learn he’s married and to Toru no less. The main point of difference is that Toru reaches outward, is willing to socialise and get along with people, whilst Tobirama is much more willing to avoid people wherever possible.

_(People like to talk about how Tobirama and Toru are opposites, but such a thing is very wrong. They’re on the opposite side of the spectrum on some things—socialising, for instance. But for many other things, they are in agreement. In the end, they’re their own people.)_

“Are you sure you can’t teach us today?” Toru’s four whine and Tobirama finds himself amused.

“Two on four?” Tobirama offers, because he has a feeling that the children will follow them even if only they plan to train together. As it is, the rest of the children have already left—leaving only those interested in a ninja life behind.

Toru smiles and there is danger there. “Four on four,” he counters. “We’ll both participate too and shift the kids around so the teams are even. It’ll be good for them to get used to fighting with others they don’t know.”

“You’re on.”

* * *

Tobirama surfaces from a two-hour research binge to find Toru half-asleep on the couch in his lab—which Tōka forced on him and he has no idea where she found the couch. Toru has a woollen blanket thrown over his shoulders that looks to be hand-knitted with various patches and Tobirama has a feeling it was handcrafted for Toru, which wouldn’t surprise him. Toru seems to have made many friends without anything limiting him—Tobirama has no idea how Toru managed it.

_(They go out into the village and at least every third person seems to know his husband. It’s a far cry from how everything used to be—when only Senju children spoke to Toru. Tobirama is glad for the change.)_

“You could actually retire to bedroom and be comfortable,” Tobirama says. “Rather than half asleep in my lab on that… couch.”

“The couch is comfy,” Toru says blearily, opening one eye from where he’s lying down, and raising himself onto his elbow. The couch in question is a black-brown-red thing that sags in one spot but _is_ comfortable, though it does look ugly—especially with how it clashes with Toru’s blanket.

“It _is_ comfortable,” someone else agrees and Tobirama rolls his eyes as Izuna’s head pops up from behind Toru.

“No one invited you in here Izuna,” Tobirama says as he stands up, back cracking as he does so. Izuna grimaces at the sound and Tobirama does not grin. “In fact, I remember telling you to fuck off.”

Izuna laughs, and Tobirama rolls his eyes. He’s gotten used to the other hanging around, since Izuna is Toru’s friend even if Tobirama isn’t a fan of it. He wouldn’t mind if Izuna didn’t seem try to get a rise out of him whenever they met, and yet Izuna always did so.

_(To himself, and himself alone, Tobirama will admit that Izuna is his friend too. There is a reason why Izuna is allowed in his labs, in his home, near Toru, without Tobirama worrying about it. Over a year of peace, and now they are here—trusting each other enough to sleep near one another.)_

“If you wanted me gone, I wouldn’t be here,” Izuna says which, unfortunately, is true and Tobirama can’t deny it.

Instead, he announces, “I hate you,” and steals the blanket away from the couch where Toru and Izuna had been using it. He folds it up quickly as Toru gets to his feet, rubbing his eyes. Izuna does the same a moment later and… and Tobirama just feels warm looking at them. They both look so comfortable in his lab with him and he doesn’t mind that they’re there either. It’s just… feels like home. Feels like safety. Is this peace?

_(It is.)_

“You staying over at ours?” Toru asks before hiding a yawn. Technically, there’s no reason for Izuna to stay at theirs as Izuna is an able ninja and capable of returning home for the night. However, Izuna has stayed at theirs a few times now, usually in the guest bedroom.

“If you don’t mind,” Izuna says, voice slightly softer than normal. Tobirama just nods before glancing over at Toru, who smiles.

“All good with me!”

Tobirama wonders if this is how it’ll go. If Izuna will frequently spend the night after hanging with one of them, if the guest room will soon become Izuna’s room, _(though, technically, it counts as Toru’s really)_. He… He doesn’t think he’d mind that, in the future.

He catches Toru’s gaze and Toru smiles, a soft, quiet thing. As they walk on Konoha’s empty streets, the darkness smudges his outline, turns him into a shadow too, even with the dim streetlights overhead. Yet, he’s so clear. Beside him, Izuna walks, graceful and easy and talking with his hands, quickly even though he keeps his voice at a reasonable volume.

Tobirama loves them—loves _this_. Loves the peace and the quiet and how easy it is to smile. This is not a life he thought he would ever get. This is an impossibility. Something not made for him or this world. And yet, here it is, here _he_ is.

In the darkness of the night, with only his husband and his best friend to see him, Tobirama smiles and finds himself happy. The future will hold what it will—but he knows it’ll hold happiness and laughter and family and love. There’s nothing more he could possibly want.

* * *

There are many legends surrounding those key figures who were around during Konoha’s founding. Of course, everyone knows the main four founders—Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Izuna, and Senju Tobirama. Then, of course, there are the more minor figures such as Uchiha Hikaku, Senju Tōka, and countless others from more clans who flocked to Konoha to create a village that had never been made before.

Konoha had been an impossible dream and one almost everyone thought possible. But, against the odds, Konoha was formed. And what happened to those founders? Those legends?

Senju Hashirama gave over his Clan Head duties to his wife, Uzumaki Mito, who led the fūinjutsu department of Konoha at the same time. Due to the time he now had, Hashirama was able to act as one of Konoha’s two leaders, working alongside Uchiha Madara who had also given over his Clan Head duties. Uchiha Izuna stepped into the sandals of the Clan Head, and led the Uchiha Clan to be a strong part of Konoha even while he continued to take missions. Then, of course, there is Senju Tobirama who never truly took one official position.

Instead, Tobirama took part in numerous projects during his time in Konoha’s government, all while completing his own missions and continuing to act as Clan Heir of the Senju Clan. Much of Konoha’s government organisation is due to Tobirama and his projects. However, what he’s most well-known for—aside from his fighting skills of course—is his most famous team consisting of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Kagami, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Shimura Danzō, and Akimichi Torifu. All six students became legends in their own right and remain important figures in Konoha’s history even now.

But there is one more person who must be mentioned because, without him, much of what we know today would not exist. Senju Toru (née Mizushima) is mostly known as Tobirama’s husband through a political marriage. But it is through Toru’s actions—befriending Izuna, reaching out to the Uchiha Clan, and so on—that allowed peace to be made and Konoha to be formed.

From there, Toru seemed to fall into anonymity. He was, however, responsible for the creation of the genin teacher’s assistant position upon fusing his team with Tobirama’s when it became clear Tobirama’s workload was too large for him to teach a three-genin team as well as he wished to the entire time.

Many will know that this position has been vital for many teams, allowing genins to raise problems with their teacher and also the teacher to receive help teaching—which has been vital for many new teachers. Not only did Toru act as teacher’s aid for many genin teams, he frequently starred as guest lecturer and substitute teacher in the Ninja Academy and was vital in the creation of the Academy and its curriculum.

Ultimately, while it’s easy to remember people like Uchiha Madara and Senju Tobirama, we must not forget the more hidden figures in our history. They, too, have worked to create the Konoha we now stand in and made important additions.

This book will spare a chapter for many of these lesser known figures including, but not limited to: Senju Toru, Uchiha Hikaku, and so on.

_Excerpt from the introduction of Konohagakure’s Hidden Figures, Volume II in Konohagakure’s Legends.  
Written by Yamanaka Kaori, Senju Rin, and Hyūga Ryūji and edited by Yamada Hiroko._

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know anything about Japanese culture and I am very sorry for anything I fucked up here, but I tried to stray away from anything that very important and hopefully I succeeded.
> 
> Fun fact about this piece! It took me three attempts until I managed to get a start I was somewhat happy with that actually grew. Am I happy with this? Hmm, perhaps I could do better but it's done and that's enough. 
> 
> Is Tobirama out of character? Probably. I give no shits which is tonight's mood I'm afraid. You got me after my long work shift and so you get to deal with me after eight hours of customer service. 
> 
> I did my best to have Tobirama create a connection with Toru through children because I do like the idea of Tobirama liking children and wanting better for them and, perhaps, seeing his long dead brothers in them (those who never got to grow). 
> 
> THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED. What a trope. I feel like I mentioned this with Silver at some point? But I only remember just now. What a laugh. 
> 
> Me, reading this: omg he was just so lonely. Someone give Toru a hug please he deserves it. But also: mood. What a quarantine mood. 
> 
> Aww, Toru deserves all the good things and he gets them!! Just what I love to see. 
> 
> Toru: I'm going to heal this baby so he lives  
> Izuna: Is this shinobi?? An idiot?? Where does he keep his brain?? Does he have one?? 
> 
> I feel like Izuna is a grumpy cat here who is very confused and does not get Toru and I'm living for it. It's such a fun meeting for them. 
> 
> I retract my statements, this got good. You lot are just getting me as I read this. Sorry not sorry. Toru's bad day? Tobirama's thoughts? There were some great sentences in there and I'm very impressed about them. I also really loved the peace discussion. And I got to sneak in Hikaku!! Good times all around. 
> 
> It's a love story, but aren't they all? They all deserve so much happiness and love and I'm glad they get it.
> 
> And, of course, the ending felt right by bookending it with like two excerpts from books or whatever. A fun little thing. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I'd also like to just say: massive shout out to Silver, Pearl, and Night who sparked this idea and came into my life and shouted queerplatonic lab partners at me and I never let the idea go. This one's for all of you. Because you all deserve a love story and I'm doing my very best to write one for you (but hey, we've already started writing our own, haven't we?).


End file.
